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Debate on Thursday, 8 July 2010, in the House of Commons, led by Crispin Blunt. The answering member was Maria Eagle.

Defendant Anonymity

Debate on a motion that this House has considered the matter of defendant anonymity.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
513 c553-629 
Session
2010-12
Department
Ministry of Justice
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Aidan Burley | 513 c584-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to you for allowing me to make my maiden speech, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I am especiall...
Rehman Chishti | 513 c570-3 (Link to this contribution) I cannot hope to match the rhetoric of the new Members who have spoken before me with such great pas...
Show all contributions (133)
Speaker | 513 c570 (Link to this contribution) May I remind Members that there is a 12-minute limit on speeches?
Michael Ellis | 513 c615 (Link to this contribution) In the absence of statistics, one can only go by one's anecdotal experience, and it is reasonable fo...
Caroline Flint | 513 c615 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman suggests that such cases happen on a regular basis, but there is no evidence—it i...
Guy Opperman | 513 c608-9 (Link to this contribution) To be fair, in the past 13 years, the hon. Gentleman's own Government made immense efforts with the ...
Guy Opperman | 513 c609-11 (Link to this contribution) Like many people in this debate, I have specific experience of the problems, having served as a pros...
Geraint Davies | 513 c609 (Link to this contribution) I must agree with that. A huge amount was done by the previous Government in this direction; that is...
Michael Ellis | 513 c612-4 (Link to this contribution) Several Members have asked the rhetorical question, "Why treat rape differently?" The reality is—I s...
Nia Griffith | 513 c611-2 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the opportunity to speak in this important debate, but I am concerned and saddened that th...
Michael Ellis | 513 c614-5 (Link to this contribution) Nothing I say is designed to make it more difficult for women to make a complaint of rape. I accept ...
Glenda Jackson | 513 c614 (Link to this contribution) Why does the hon. Gentleman think that the previous Government changed the law in that way? Surely i...
Jonathan Djanogly | 513 c625-6 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the shadow Minister that we have had a good, informed debate, with tremendous contribut...
Maria Eagle | 513 c621-5 (Link to this contribution) We have had an extremely good debate across the Chamber on this thorny issue. I welcome the debate, ...
Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford | 513 c618-9 (Link to this contribution) May I begin by paying tribute to the excellent maiden speakers? In that, I single out the astute com...
Louise Mensch | 513 c617-8 (Link to this contribution) I am glad to have the chance to contribute however briefly to the debate. I must start by apologisin...
Chi Onwurah | 513 c615-7 (Link to this contribution) I will not speak for long, as many of the arguments that I wanted to make against the coalition's pr...
Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford | 513 c619-20 (Link to this contribution) I accept that, which is why we are in such a difficult position and why this debate is important. I...
Meg Munn | 513 c619 (Link to this contribution) I apologise to the hon. Lady for not being in my place at the very start of her speech. Unfortunatel...
Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford | 513 c619 (Link to this contribution) I am merely trying to make the point that our culture ascribes greater disapprobation to sexual offe...
Maria Eagle | 513 c619 (Link to this contribution) The Government's proposal is not to give anonymity to those accused of paedophilia. Rumours abound i...
Simon Hughes | 513 c579-80 (Link to this contribution) I accept entirely what the hon. Lady says. She is right, which is why we need to proceed with cautio...
Anna Soubry | 513 c580 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Simon Hughes | 513 c580 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the hon. Lady will allow me to continue just for a second. We requested that the Home O...
Simon Hughes | 513 c580-1 (Link to this contribution) Let me make my other comments. If I have time to give way to the hon. Lady at the end, I will do so ...
Glenda Jackson | 513 c581-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Simon Hughes) hopes that this will be a non-partis...
Anna Soubry | 513 c582 (Link to this contribution) We all agree that there should be more argument based on evidence. Where is the hon. Lady's evidence...
Glenda Jackson | 513 c582 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, but I did not catch the end of the hon. Lady's question. I will give her direct evidence...
Gareth Johnson | 513 c582 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady not accept that there is a huge danger, in this debate and any consultation proce...
Glenda Jackson | 513 c583 (Link to this contribution) With all due respect to the hon. Gentleman, the evidence presented in the Chamber—obviously he is no...
Glenda Jackson | 513 c583-4 (Link to this contribution) It is no use the hon. Lady shaking her head. We both know of incidents in which people have not repo...
Anna Soubry | 513 c583 (Link to this contribution) Some 40% of all rape complainants are either male or children, and of the 60% who are aged over 16 a...
Glenda Jackson | 513 c583 (Link to this contribution) We have already established that, as far as children are concerned, we are all in absolute agreement...
Simon Hughes | 513 c589 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is always listened to seriously and with respect. May I ask whether she has reflected ...
Meg Munn | 513 c589-90 (Link to this contribution) I agree. In my experience, it is possible during the investigative process—in which, as I have said,...
Anna Soubry | 513 c590-3 (Link to this contribution) May I begin by thanking the Minister, as I know he has listened to many of us who do not support all...
Meg Munn | 513 c593 (Link to this contribution) This is a very important point. I was saying not that the police officer had to believe the complain...
Caroline Flint | 513 c594-6 (Link to this contribution) It is a delight to follow the hon. Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry). I feel that it might not be to...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c596 (Link to this contribution) If I have not formally thanked the right hon. Lady for the letter, let me put that on the record now...
Caroline Flint | 513 c596 (Link to this contribution) I certainly was not seeking to provide evidence to support the Government's position. I was providin...
Simon Hughes | 513 c596 (Link to this contribution) In that context, if the evidence that Baroness Stern and others have asked for is forthcoming, in th...
Anna Soubry | 513 c593-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for that intervention. The correct word, which I am grateful to my ho...
Geraint Davies | 513 c605-6 (Link to this contribution) At the nub of this debate is the question of whether the police should be allowed the discretion to ...
Sarah Wollaston | 513 c598-9 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the right hon. Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) on her speech and on the passio...
Stella Creasy | 513 c599-603 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to contribute to this debate, which is on an important...
Robert Buckland | 513 c603-5 (Link to this contribution) It is a great honour to make a contribution to a debate that has been singularly well informed, not ...
Robert Buckland | 513 c607 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is not suggesting that there is a trade-off between the effect on an innocent per...
Geraint Davies | 513 c607-8 (Link to this contribution) We must maximise our impact on injustice against victims and the wrongly accused. Ultimately, howeve...
Robert Buckland | 513 c607 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Caroline Flint | 513 c606 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point about the opportunity for the press to publish information a...
Geraint Davies | 513 c606-7 (Link to this contribution) That is absolutely right. We talked earlier about the problem of putting things in boxes and isolate...
Anna Soubry | 513 c608 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that those days are long past? Raising the sexual history of a complai...
Caroline Flint | 513 c626 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the time and I appreciate the hon. Gentleman giving way. Am I right in thinking that th...
Jonathan Djanogly | 513 c626 (Link to this contribution) It will be in regard to rape, pre-charge—that is correct.
Jonathan Djanogly | 513 c627-9 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid I cannot. Let me say to the right hon. Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) and the h...
Meg Munn | 513 c626 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Jonathan Djanogly | 513 c626-7 (Link to this contribution) I will not, because I have little time and I have a lot to do. I share my hon. Friend the Under-Sec...
Geraint Davies | 513 c562 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend accept that there are cases where someone is accused of rape, as a result of whi...
Maria Eagle | 513 c562 (Link to this contribution) I accept what my hon. Friend says. There is no doubt that rape can be a serial offence. Perpetrators...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c560-1 (Link to this contribution) I think I have already answered that question—[Hon. Members: "No, you haven't!"] I am quite happy to...
Maria Eagle | 513 c561-2 (Link to this contribution) I begin by welcoming both the Under-Secretaries of State for Justice to their ministerial places to ...
Yvette Cooper | 513 c560 (Link to this contribution) It is important to put on record that the previous Government's position was not the position that t...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c559 (Link to this contribution) I will direct the attention of the director to the hon. Lady's remarks, to see whether it is possibl...
Simon Hughes | 513 c559-60 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that the Government are listening and proceeding slowly, but there are other wide-ranging ...
Kate Green | 513 c559 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister clarify whether the published research—which will be immensely helpful—will includ...
Louise Mensch | 513 c558 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend expand on this a little? Does he understand the concern that is felt on both sid...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c558 (Link to this contribution) I do understand that, but we also have to take into account the arguments that sit on the other side...
Meg Munn | 513 c558 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely puzzled by what the hon. Gentleman is saying. He has set out a very defensible positi...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c559 (Link to this contribution) The strongest argument is around the balance of harms. The complainant in a rape trial has anonymity...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c558 (Link to this contribution) If my hon. Friend will forgive me, I want to set out where the Government are on this issue, and the...
Maria Eagle | 513 c558 (Link to this contribution) Is the Minister saying that the Government are going to do this only in respect of the crime of rape...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c558 (Link to this contribution) This is about the crime of rape.
Keith Vaz | 513 c559 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has correctly described the views of the Select Committee, of which the Prime Minister ...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c559 (Link to this contribution) No, it does not. I am delighted to say that the right hon. Gentleman has provided me with a cue to b...
Caroline Flint | 513 c554 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman has just put it on the record that, based on the available evid...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c554-5 (Link to this contribution) I am surprised by that intervention because the Government made their position clear yesterday in a ...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c554 (Link to this contribution) I think that the right hon. Lady will appreciate what I am about to put on the record regarding the ...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c556-8 (Link to this contribution) I understand that that is one of the counter-arguments, but in the end it comes down to a matter of ...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c555-6 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Lady will forgive me, I would like to set out the Government's analysis and position, an...
Maria Eagle | 513 c556 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman understand that one of the reasons why people fear that introducing anonymit...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c553 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House has considered the matter of defendant anonymity." I welcome the opp...
Michael Ellis | 513 c569 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is very generous. There are already episodes in our criminal justice system where name...
Maria Eagle | 513 c569 (Link to this contribution) We do not, however, say in respect of any crime that there should be a generalised anonymity for def...
Maria Eagle | 513 c569 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman.
Meg Munn | 513 c569 (Link to this contribution) I wanted to raise the following matter with the Minister, but he would not give way to me. I am uncl...
Maria Eagle | 513 c569-70 (Link to this contribution) I agree that some imprecision remains, and we would have many questions about the Government's inten...
Keith Vaz | 513 c573-5 (Link to this contribution) It is an enormous pleasure for me to follow the maiden speech of the hon. Member for Gillingham and ...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c575 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I should be clear about the consultative process. We will not be having a period of formal c...
Keith Vaz | 513 c575 (Link to this contribution) That is most helpful. I am not sure whether the Minister has given us a timetable for the consultati...
Geraint Davies | 513 c576 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend feel that there is an equivalence between the sort of case being discussed...
Keith Vaz | 513 c576 (Link to this contribution) No, there is not an equivalence—that takes the debate in the wrong way, and we need to be careful an...
Louise Mensch | 513 c576 (Link to this contribution) Can the right hon. Gentleman confirm that the recommendations he read out referred to all sexual off...
Keith Vaz | 513 c576-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is absolutely right, which is why I would be keen for the Committee to revisit the iss...
Simon Hughes | 513 c577-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate. I compliment the right hon. Member for Lei...
Meg Munn | 513 c578 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making a very thoughtful speech. Does he agree that when there are repeat offe...
Simon Hughes | 513 c578-9 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely agree with that. I was very critical, publicly and in the House, of the fact that it to...
Kate Green | 513 c579 (Link to this contribution) I accept that the vilification of sex offenders inside and outside our prisons is a factor of which ...
Meg Munn | 513 c564 (Link to this contribution) The Minister made a great deal of the issue of balance, but vulnerable victims are often abused by s...
Maria Eagle | 513 c564 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend: equating the position of the complainant with that of the defendant is ...
Geraint Davies | 513 c563 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way twice to me. Is she aware of cases in which, in respo...
Maria Eagle | 513 c563 (Link to this contribution) I fear that my hon. Friend is correct. In a meeting of the all-party group on domestic and sexual vi...
Simon Hughes | 513 c563 (Link to this contribution) I agree that the idea is not to put people off, but to encourage them to come forward when a crimina...
Maria Eagle | 513 c563 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman that revealing the modus operandi can bring women forward. Often, wo...
Maria Eagle | 513 c562-3 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend that there are many myths about rape. It is one of the few crimes for wh...
Maria Eagle | 513 c564 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, I assume that must motivate the Government's policy, but the Minister did not set out in gre...
Michael Ellis | 513 c564 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Lady not also conscious of the need to prevent false accusations against innocent people...
Maria Eagle | 513 c566 (Link to this contribution) That was a very long intervention, but I hope that the Under-Secretary of State will be as good as h...
Maria Eagle | 513 c566-7 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the Under-Secretary of State in a moment. To reach a conclusion without any cons...
Maria Eagle | 513 c564-5 (Link to this contribution) No, I want to make some progress. The coalition agreement set out the matter clearly. The proposal ...
Caroline Flint | 513 c565 (Link to this contribution) Much has been made of the report by the former Home Affairs Committee, and of the current Prime Mini...
Maria Eagle | 513 c565-6 (Link to this contribution) I was not aware of that, but my right hon. Friend has put a lot of effort into dealing with the issu...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c566 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady certainly ought to give way at this point, having been part of a Government who indulg...
Bridget Phillipson | 513 c568 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that it is important to draw a distinction between acquittal and false all...
Maria Eagle | 513 c567-8 (Link to this contribution) Not at this point. In fact, people accused of sexual crimes should not be treated any differently f...
Nia Griffith | 513 c615 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that I was quoting the professionals who have been involved for many,...
Michael Ellis | 513 c615 (Link to this contribution) Nothing that I have said is designed to protect the guilty. I accept what the hon. Lady says. As far...
Geraint Davies | 513 c608 (Link to this contribution) No, I would not agree. I heard of a recent case where such suggestions were made about clothing and ...
Glenda Jackson | 513 c562 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with my hon. Friend that there has been an improvement in approaches to rape, but i...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c554 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the right hon. Lady, but I would like to get through the bulk of my remarks, and ...
Maria Eagle | 513 c554 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman clarify in more detail the proposals on teacher anonymity? Is he suggesting ...
Meg Munn | 513 c588-9 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Mr Burley). I must say that during his...
Caroline Flint | 513 c597-8 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I actually made that point in my contribution to t...
Crispin Blunt | 513 c560 (Link to this contribution) The Government have come to a view on where we want to strengthen the position, and it is around the...
Maria Eagle | 513 c568-9 (Link to this contribution) That is right; my hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. There are very few examples of mal...
Subjects
Rape Trials Victims Rights of accused
Link
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